ALL of a large several generations family record collection family being sold off 2016
Have been a rare book sellers 20 years and know about condition where it is always THE huge issue; and selling online 20 years never anything even returned on condition; including already several hundred 30 to 40 yr old lps the last few years. Never.
ONLY jolly decent copies are listed here on ebay. anything that isn't, which would only be the case if it has unique interest as a rarer collectable, and will have defects clearly noted.
Every record listed is played through carefully first prior listing, then again when it sells to double double check nothing wrong - which is of course very time consuming, indeed an extreme pain the butt. But the customer must be served.
Proceeds of records are ALL barbed wire fenced into funding only daughter through a literature degree at posh uni - subscriptions to literary societies, and building her library of Jane Austen and lovely flowery Wordsworthian poetry volumes and the like..... her having rejected all music even Zeppelin, Pistols, JoyDivision as cissie bourgeois nonsense compared to her own curious acquired taste for extreme thrash/ anglegrinder/jcb metal of the noisy Malevolence and even grungier genres.
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THIS LISTING:
LP TITLE
`Bill Withers ` Greatest Hits rare ORIGINAL VINYL LP CBS 32343 1981
The photos are comprehensive showing all you need to know about issue / collectable variants, and always any defects are photographed. (not possible to capture matrix numbers if that is an attraction)
CONDITION :
CONDITION
Overall excellent to near Mint, little played
VINYL
excellent near Mint really - it is in fact only played once or twice -
Detailed Visible inspection:
a few hairlines or lightest scuffmarks from not perfect handling at some point,
There is the odd very occasional minor thin line showing but these are very light indeed and are nothing remotely sinister. There are a few more incredibly minor wispy lines on all sides when viewed in very bright white light, but again nothing remotely sinister or serious.
Nothing like a defined mark or full feelable scratch. Absolutely no pops or jumps.
Detailed listen through:
the light scuffs aren't coming through on a listen other than occasional lightest of occasoional crackles- we normally list even one audible click most carefully.lays flat and there is little to no movement in the record arm on either.
The sound produced is superb throughout all four sides with no major issues with interference. It's crisp, dynamic and other than a minuscule trace in the run in has little to no surface noise audible.There are no skips, sticks or disruptive clicks and overall the audio is clear, has no distortion caused by excessive use and little to no surface noise.
and certainly, absolutely no serious pops, jumps or feelable scratches on anything we list..the record arm on our player is most sensetive and jumps at any true defect.
SLEEVE / any INSERTS etc
Very decent - nr excellent - lightish creasing and rubbing to extremities - pretty clean. Spine fine - a few creases but all still there.
No ringing.
Issues: the front shows some minor atmospheric discolouration along bottom edge, and removing a label a couple of half one penny areas came off - think the photos cover it. Not awful you dont notice unless looking carefully.
Labels decent. 2 light/ faint spindle marks
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Buy with confidence: We have been online sellers of collectable and higher value items for 20 years - initially in Hay-on-Wye book collector Town from 1997. Have sold 10,000+ items by mail order online and know how to catalogue items and pack well, where the value is in condition - describing, and arriving as described! Using ebay for ten years, selling largely second hand rarer lps and a mixture of other surplus items from home, again condition is critical and we have not had one lp returned ever. Our feedback reflects this. We play fair.
We do not profit from postage. We sell a range of oddments and thus rates are so variable sometimes we may overquote a pound or so and if we don't pick it up and adjust before dispatch you can still bet on our next sale we will have underquoted and hence lose a quid or two. I.e. it all balances out. If we have badly misestimated post we reserve the right to contact and seek balance - though that's rare.
RECORDS
We are selling off ad hoc a medium sized varied record collection built up over 50 years by several family members. Almost all were bought new and have all been treated well enough over the years.
All records have been played through before listing – albeit with a fairly basic Technics SL-Q210 turntable which even with new needle isn’t exactly the highest fi. All records have been cleaned with ridiculously expensive Permaclean though this is no way a “pro” clean.
Having done ten years ago a comparison – playing cd and lp versions of the same work through a decent hi fi, was astonished to hear the difference in that yes the vinyl is so much richer, and that would appear to remain the case over new digital formats. Most records being sold however, unless stated as near mint or above, have had ordinary play, and crackle unavoidably creeps in with time. To our ears despite the crackles often there the extraordinary richness of vinyl still comes through making it a very different experience to that of the bit any byte. And if one has lived with the crackles on a particular record over the years they become an accepted part of it - almost an old friend.
Grading will be conservative, and if a record is sold that does indeed have any scratches beyond the hairline that only result in the ordinary softish crackle, these will be noted.
DISPATCH:
Post: £3.99 UK (occasionally will quote different) ; Rest of world ~rates now set by ebay. Dispatched within 3 working days of cleared funds . We pack carefully and dispatch in decent corrugated stiff card packaging. All records over £10 will be sent requiring signature on delivery and we will retain proof of post. Please note we do not accept liability if arrangements cannot be made by the purchaser to receive the item inbound from the postal service.
RETURNS- Buyer pays return insured post. Returns only accepted if you receive an item you would consider not as described in listing. With older LPs of course this is sometimes a matter of opinion! But we have not had one returned yet. Please contact us before considering negative feedback and lets see if we can resolve the issue with communication (we have many year established ebay selling colleagues who get all ratty and argumentative and insult ping-pong at complaints - we don't). We do our very best. Any return it must be within 7 days of you receiving the item.
Please don't bid if you don't intend shelling out if you are winner. This seems to get worse and worse - each listed item represents a good hour of someone's time at least to research / clean/photo/ write up etc... we never used to put in complaints about people who do this, but may well in the future.
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Specific grading standards
GRADINGS BASED ON THE RARE RECORD GUIDE GRADING SYSTEM AND ARE AS FOLLOWS:
MINT- The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. (mint items may have been played through only a few times, including now to ascertain condition for sale)
EXCELLENT - The record shows some signs of having been played,
but there is very little lessening in sound quality.
The vinyl may have some hairline surface scuffs which will be only slightly visible. The cover and packaging might have minor wear and/or creasing.
VERY GOOD - The record has obviously been played many times,but displays no major deterioration in sound quality,
despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items,
is acceptable.
GOOD - The record has been played so much
that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated.
perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover suffers from folding, spine splits, discolouration, etc.
FAIR-The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump. The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced